What can I say...I love TED Talks! I can honestly say that I've never seen a bad TED video. I was viewing a Khan Academy video and clicked on a recommended video which featured Ken Robinson (http://www.ted.com/playlists/24/re_imagining_school.html). While his video is not math-specific, it casts a light on what is happening to education. Robinson argues that we are no longer educating the 'whole' child- we use children to fulfill an image that we already have of them. We do not let children control who they become. He argues that all children are born artists, but struggle to remain that way. Children are so afraid of being wrong that they stop taking risks...they stop having wishes and start having goals.
The definition of education has changed. This generation will produce more high school and university graduates than ever before, but professional degrees don't mean employment anymore. Everyone seems to be educated, but few really stick out.
Robinson's theories ring true in my classes- especially math. Children are so afraid of being wrong that they often don't participate in class or do their homework. They would much rather commit to nothing than the wrong answer. I also teach science and students seem to be more capable of forming and testing a hypothesis...but if I ask them in math, they are incredibly reluctant. Students have it in their minds that there is only ever one answer, and if they don't definitively know that answer, they are wrong.
My question is, how can we teach creativity in high school? How can we awaken that inner child, who still believes in figuring things out and taking chances? While our math answers should be accurate, often finding them means being wrong a few times. How can we encourage students that it's okay to be wrong?
The problem isn't only in high school. Students are apprehensive to answer questions even in the primary/junior level. They don't want to attempt answering unless they are sure that there answer is what the teacher is expecting. Especially with many ESL learners who have come from education systems where there can be severe punishments for answering incorrectly. I is difficult to show them that an incorrect answer is just a starting point to find the correct answer.
ReplyDeleteI think one problem is that math teachers tend to only show students one way to figure out solutions, so students think they have to do it that one way or they are wrong. I like to show students different angles and ways to look at information. There are usually more than just one way to extract certain information so I think giving students the choice which method they want to use is important. Giving students choices, allows them to take more interest in the subject and also have their input. This can allow students to be more creative on how to problem solve and perhaps, not afraid to try new methods or even share their theories.
ReplyDeleteYou have an excellent point- students need to understand that there are several ways to solve problems. I've had students come to me and they are frustrated because they know how to get the right answer, but they arrive at the answer by using a different method than the teacher. As long as the method is accurate, it really shouldn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how we can attack this generation and shift the paradigm to one that takes chances? An inability to be creative really is limiting...it means we are working with less ideas and our potential isn't being met. I stumbled across this link while viewing Robinson's TED video and it has some interesting stats, such as the idea that only 1 in 4 people believe they are reaching their creative potential. It also says that only 2/3 of people believe that creativity benefits society. The stats are scary.
http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/schools-are-still-killing-creativity/